Trash compactor

ABSTRACT

A trash compactor incorporates a vertically operating ram in which, at the top of the ram&#39;&#39;s stroke, a bottom section of the ram is automatically moved horizontally rearwardly in order to expose the mouth of a trash container below. Thus the container need not be moved outside of the compactor&#39;&#39;s cabinet in order to deposit trash. Instead, trash is deposited through a door on the front of the cabinet directly into the container beneath the ram.

United States Patent [191 Bourgeois 1 Feh.25,1975

1 1 TRASH COMPACTOR [75] Inventor: Joseph F. Bourgeois, Cedar Rapids,

Iowa

[73] Assignee: Amana Refrigeration, Inc., Amana,

Iowa

[22] Filed: June 18, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 370,610

[52] US. Cl 100/226, 100/215, 100/229 A, 100/289, 100/295, 53/124 B,141/73 [51] Int. Cl B30b 1/18, B30b 7/00, B30b 15/06 [58] Field ofSearch 100/226, 229 A, 295, 289, 100/215; 53/124 B; 141/73, 80

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 594,008 1 1/1897 Hanak100/226 UX 2,392,604 1/1946 Mallory 100/226 2,692,407 10/1954 Stacy100/226 X 3,248,984 5/1966 Garwin 100/226 X 3,285,505 11/1966 KatzIOU/226 3,353,478 11/1967 Hopkins 100/229 A 3,438,321 4/1969 GladwinIUD/226 3,468,204 9/1969 3,691,944 9/1972 3,720,844 3/1973 S3118 100/229UX FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 159,818 4/1905 Germany 100/226Primary Examiner-Bil1y J. Wilhiite Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Haven E.Simmons; James C. Nemmers [57] ABSTRACT A trash compactor incorporates avertically operating ram in which, at the top of the rams stroke, abottom section of the ram is automatically moved horizontally rearwardlyin order to expose the mouth of a trash container below. Thus thecontainer need not be moved outside of the compactors cabinet in orderto deposit trash. Instead, trash is deposited through a door on thefront of the cabinet directly into the container beneath the ram.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIEB FEB 2 51975 sum 1 or 3 FIG 1 TRASHCOMPACTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The typical trash compactor,especially for domestic use, requires that the container in which thetrash is compacted be pulled forwardly from under the ram and outside ofthe compactors cabinet in order to expose the mouth of the container sothat trash can be deposited, This requirement stems from the fact thatthe overall height of the compactor is limited, so that, for instance,it can be located beneath a typical kitchen counter, whence the ram atthe top of the stroke is disposed so closely above the mouth of thecontainer that trash can be deposited only after first moving thecontainer. Of course, if there were no height limitations, the compactorcould be designed so that the ram at the top of its stroke issufficiently above the containers mouth to allow deposit of trashwithout need to move the container. Even within the height limitations,the container could be made relatively shallow and the ram short so thatat the top of its stroke there is a sufficient gap between the ram andthe containers mouth through which trash can be inserted. But thatdesign is not acceptable since it too severely limits the amount oftrash the container can hold before it must be emptied. Hence the chiefobject of the present invention is a trash compactor of countertopheight, having acceptable trash capacity, in which the container neednot be moved outside of the compactors cabinet in order to deposittrash.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Essentially, in its preferred form the presentinvention employs a vertically acting ram split into upper and lowersections, the latter section being slidably movable on ways horizontallyrearwardly with respect to the upper section. At the top of the ramsstroke its lower section is in its rearward position so that the mouthof the trash container below is exposed for deposit of trash through arelatively small door in the fron of the compactors cabinet. The ram isoperated by a motor driven screw and at the beginning of its descent, anarrangement of pinion and rack gears rapidly moves the lower section ofthe ram forwardly into alignment with the upper section and the mouth ofthe container so that the ram can enter the container as it descends tocompact the trash. The ram is automatically reversed at the bottom ofits stroke and as it emerges from the mouth of the container, the pinionand rack gears act to move the lower section of the ram rearwardly againto expose the mouth of the container. The latter is carried on aslide-out mount so that it can be pulled forwardly from the cabinet andremoved for emptying. Until the latter is needed, however, and unlikemost current trash compactors, the container remains within the cabinet,loading being accomplished simply by opening the door on the front ofthe cabinet which is preferably hinged along its bottom edge so thatwhen open it forms a chutelike entrance for the trash to direct it intothe container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS I FIG. 1 is a vertical section througha trash compactor according to the invention illustrating the ram at thetop of its stroke and its lower portion moved rearwardly to expose themouth of the container below, the section being taken just inboard of aside wall of the cabinet,

certain additional parts being further shown in section taken along theline 1-1 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section "taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. I butshowing the lower portion of the ram in its forward position inalignment with the upper portion and the mouth of the container.

FIG. 3 is a partial rear elevational view, also partly in section, takenalong the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view illustrating the mecha nisms for moving theentire ram vertically and the lower ram portion to and fro horizontallyrelative to the upper portion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The trash compactor consists ofa chassis 10 formed essentially of a heavy, downwardly flangedrectangular floor plate It reinforced beneath by a transverse channelassembly 12. Just inboard of and along the side edges of the floor plate11 are located two broad, shallow vertical channels 13 disposed infacing relation to each other only one being illustrated in FIG. I. Thelower ends of the channels 13 are provided with horizontal tongues 13awhich pass through slots Illa along the side flanges of the floor plate11 and engage its under face, being secured thereto by bolts 13b. Thechannels 13 extend nearly to the top of the compactor and are capped bya heavy, downwardly flanged top plate 14, also reinforced above by apair of transverse channel assemblies 15. The respective oppositeflanges of the vertical channels 13 are connected by horizontalcross-plates 16 just below the top plate 14, all to form in effect aheavy, cage-like structure in which the ram operates. Over the chassisI0 is slipped an open front, rectangular sheet metal cabinet 17 whoseforward edges are flanged at 17a and provided with a toe space 18. Thefront of the cabinet is closed by three panels 19, 20, and 21 againstthe cabinet flanges 17a, the upper edges of the panels 20 and 21 beingprovided with hand grips 22 and 23, while the panel 20 is hinged at 24at its lower corners to the side walls of the cabinet 17 to provide atrash loading door. The cabinet 17 is secured only to the rear and sideedges of the floor plate 11, being otherwise spaced from the chassis 10in order to minimize transmission of vibration.

The ram assembly, generally indicated at 30, consists of an upperhorizontal plate 31 of rectangular shape generally spanning the areabounded by the four inner corners of the channels 13 and provided with apair of transverse upwardly turned flanges 32. From the side edges ofthe plate 31 depend a pair of deep skirt plates 33 (only one beingillustrated in FIG. 1), reinforced by angle braces 34 about the twoedges of the plate 31 between the skirt plates 33 and by flanges 35a and35b along the four vertical and two bottom edges of the skirt plates 33.Over the four corners formed by the skirt plates 33 and their flanges35a are secured glides 36 fashioned from flat strips of nylon whichslidably bear against the inner corners of the channels 13. Centrallybeneath the upper plate 31 are welded the upper ends of a pair ofvertical supports 37, somewhat V- shaped in cross section, theirrespective ends 37a being located in spaced, opposed relation to eachother adjacent the front and rear edges of the plate 31. Welded to thelower ends of the supports 37 is a circular lower end plate 38,centrally disposed with respect to the upper plate 31, which is providedwith a pair of spaced,

parallel slots 39 (see FIG. 4) between the support ends 37a andextending perpendicular to the cross-plates 16 from the rear edge of theplate 38 forward to abreast of its center. The slots 39 in turn receivea pair of T- shaped ways 40, to whose upper faces is secured a pair ofrack gears 41 and to whose lower ends faces is screwed a circular upperend plate 42, substantially congruent with plate 38, whose upper face isin sliding contact with the lower face of plate 38. To the lower face ofthe plate 42 are welded the upper ends of a second pair of verticalsupports 43, similar to the supports 37 and similarly disposed, to whoselower ends is welded a circular ram head supporting plate 44. Below thelatter is releasably attached a circular ram head 45. Hence the upperend plate 42, the supports 43, the support plate 44 and the ram head 45are suspended by the ways 40 and together with the rack gears 41 form alower ram section 46 which is slidable as a unit in the slots 39 from aforward position in which it is vertically aligned with the upper ramsection 47 to a rearward position as shown in FIG. 1.

The mechanism for moving the lower ram section 46 relative to the uppersection 47 consists of a pair of spaced pinion gears 50 fixedintermediate the ends of a horizontal shaft 51 extending between therear walls of the supports 37 and journaled therein at 52, the piniongears 50 operatively engaging and driving respective rack gears 41. Tothe shaft 51 between the pinion gears 50 is also fixed a drive piniongear 53 which is engaged by a vertical rack gear 54 at the lower end ofa vertical support 55 extending through an aperture 56 in the upper ramplate 31 and welded at its upper end to the underside of the chassis topplate 14. Hence, when the ram assembly 30 is at the top ofits stroke andthe lower ram section 46 is in its rearward location, all as shown inFIG. 1, intital downward movement of the ram assembly 30 will cause therack gear 54 to drive the pinion gears 53 and 50 and thus the rack gears41, whence the lower ram section 46 wil slide forwardly on the ways 40into alignment with the upper ram section 47 by the time the pinion gear53 has disengaged from the lower end of the rack gear 54. In reverse, asthe ram assembly 30 approaches the top of its stroke, the pinion gear 53will be reengaged by the rack gear 54 and the lower ram assembly 46 willthus have slid to its rearward position by the time the ram assembly 30halts at the top of its stroke.

A separate mechanism drives the entire ram assembly 30 vertically. Forthis purpose the upper ram plate 31 is centrally apertured at 60 betweenthe supports 37 to receive a flanged swivel seat 61 for a swivel nut 62having a squared upper boss, the seat 61 and nut 62 being retained by aflange plate 63 bolted through the plate 31. The flange plate 63 has asquared aperture receiving the squared boss of the swivel nut 62 inorder to prevent its rotation. Through the swivel nut 62 is threaded along, Acme type vertical screw 64, its threads being interrupted at 65toward its upper end and provided thereabove with a pair of oppositedrive flats 66, the screw 64 extending down through an aperture 67 inthe lower end plate 38 and an elongated slot 68 in the upper end plate42, the slot 68 extending from the center of the plate 42 and openingthrough its forward edge in order to accommodate the movement of thelower ram section 46 relative to the upper section 47. The upper end ofthe screw 64 is retained in and driven by an appropriate gear box 69secured to the underside of the chassis top plate 14, the entire ramassembly 30 thus being suspended from the gearbox 69. A drive shaft 70extends rearwardly from the gear box 69, the shaft 70 being beingsupported by a pillow block 71 adjacent its rear end and secured to theunderside of the chassis top plate 14. The rear end of the shaft 70 isfitted with a V-pulley 72 which is engaged by a V-belt 73 driven by aV-pulley 74 therebelow on the shaft of an appropriate electric motor Mcarried by a bracket 75 also secured to the underside of the chassis topplate 14.

Accordingly, as the screw 64 is driven in the appropriate direction, theentire ram assembly 30 moves from its uppermost or withdrawn positiondownwardly owing to the swivel nut 62. During the initial portion of itstravel the lower ram section 46 moves forwardly into alignment with theupper section 47 in the manner previously described. The eight nylonglides 36, which in effect provide a total of eight bearing faces, fittightly against the inner corners of the chassis channels 13 and areheavily greased. The screw 64, which provides a single axis of thrustcentrally disposed with respect to the ram assembly 30 and parallel tothe glides 36, absorbs most of the resistance encountered by the ramassembly 30 as it descends. Any tendency for it to cock or twist isresisted by the strength ofthe assembly 30, the extensive length of theeight surfaces of the nylon glides 36 and the substantial lateralspacing of the latter from the axis of the screw 64. Any cockingrelative to the screw 64 is accommodated by the swivel seat 61 and nut62. The interrupted thread portion 65 of the screw 64 preventsover-travel of the ram assembly 30 upon its upward movement from itslowermost or compacting position.

The slide-out mount for the trash container is formed by a rectangularfloor pan 81 having a large centrally located, circular aperture 82therein normally axially aligned with the screw 64. The mount 80 iscarried on a pair of three-piece, ball bearing full extension glides(not shown) connected to the channels 13 and the floor pan 81. A pair ofupright, trapeziodal braces 83 (only one being shown) secures the sideedges of the floor pan 81 to the side edges of the cabinet front panel21. The cylindrical trash container 84 is supported in the aperture 82above the floor plate 11 by means of several leaf springs (not shown)carried by the floor pan 81. When the ram 30 is in its fully retractedposition, the container 84 can be pulled forwardly out of the cabinet 17on its mount 80, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1, by the hand grip23 in order for trash to be emptied. Until that is necessary thecontainer 84 remains within the cabinet 17, trash being depositedthrough the door 20 since the mouth of the container is exposed owing tothe rearward location of the lower ram section 46 as shown in FIG. 1.When the door 20 is opened with the hand grip 22 it provides achute-like incline to direct trash into the container 84. The door 20may include suitable stops (not shown) for this purpose.

The ram assembly 30 is activated by any conventional means (not showncontrolling forward and reverse operation of the motor M. It firstdescends to compress the trash at which time the container supportingsprings deflect allowing the container 84 to sink through the aperture82 until its bottom sits firmly upon the chassis floor plate 11. Whenmaximum compression has been reached, the motor M is automaticallyreversed by any of well-known means (not shown) to withdraw the ramassembly 30. It will be understood, of course, that the diameters of thepinion gears 50 and 53 and the length of the rack gear 54 must beappropriately chosen so that the lower ram section 46 is movedrearwardly and forwardly, as the case may be, only when the ram head 45is above the mouth of the container 84, that is to say, as previouslypointed out, at the end and the beginning, respectively, of the strokeof the ram assembly 30. Preferably, the door 20, as well as the mount80, also incorporate suitable safely interlocks (not shown) so that themotor M is automatically halted if either is opened during thecompacting opera tion.

Though the invention has been described in terms of a particularembodiment, being the best mode known of carrying out the invention, itis not limited to that embodiment alone. Instead, the following claimsare to be read as including all adaptations and modifications of theinvention falling within its spirit and scope.

I claim:

1. In a trash compactor having a cabinet containing a chassis, a trashcontainer and a ram assembly including a ram head, the ram assemblybeing linearly movable relative to the chassis in a compacting strokefrom a withdrawn position above the trash container, the trash containerbeing disposable in aligned relation closely below the ram head,downwardly to a compacting position inside the container and then in awithdrawal stroke back to its withdrawn position, the improvementwherein the ram assembly includes an upper portion and a lower portionto which the ram head is attached, the lower ram portion being laterallymovable within the confines of the cabinet relative to the upper ramportion and the container into and out of said alignment with thecontainer when the ram head is above the container effective to exposethe mouth of the container for deposit of trash therein through anaccess opening in the cabinet; and wherein said lateral movement isachieved by transfer means which automatically moves the lower ramportion out of said alignment near the end of the ram assemblyswithdrawal stroke and moves the lower ram portion back into saidalignment at the beginning of the ram assemblys compacting stroke whenthe ram head is above the container in each case, the transfer meansbeing activated by said linear movement of the ram assembly andcomprising driven means carried by the upper and lower ram portions anddrive means carried by the chassis and operative upon the driven meansonly during said linear movement of the ram assembly when the ram headis above the container.

2. The compactor of claim ll wherein the driven means comprise firstgear means carried by the lower ram portion and second gear meanscarried by the upper ram portion and operatively engaging the first gearmeans, and wherein the drive means comprises third gear means carried bythe chassis and operatively engaging the second gear means.

3. The compactor of claim 2 wherein the upper and lower ram portions arejoined by a pair of upper and lower plate members respectively securedto said ram portions, the plate members having laterally extendingmating faces therebetween and interlocking guide means securing thelower to the upper ram portion, the guide means extending parallel tothe direction of said lateral movement of the lower ram portion, thelower plate member being laterally slidable relative to the upper platemember over said faces and along the guide means to provide for saidlateral movement of the lower ram portion.

4. The compactor of claim 3 wherein the guide means comprise a pair oflaterally spaced rectilinear ways secured to the lower plate member andextending upwardly through the top face of the upper plate member, andwherein the first gear means are carried by the guide means above theupper plate members.

5. The compactor of claim 4 wherein the first gear means comprise a pairof rack gears secured to and parallel with said ways, wherein the secondgear means comprise a pair of pinion gears operatively engaged with therack gears, the pinion gears being fixed to a shaft journaled in theupper ram portion above and perpendicular to the rack gears, and whereinthe third gear means comprise a drive pinion gear fixed to the shaft anda drive rack gear fixed to the chassis, the drive rack gear beingpositioned to operatively engage the drive pinion gear only when the ramhead is above the container effective to cause said lateral movement ofthe lower ram portion into and out of said alignment near the beginningof the compacting stroke and the end of the withdrawal stroke,respectively, of the ram assembly.

1. In a trash compactor having a cabinet containing a chassis, a trashcontainer and a ram assembly including a ram head, the ram assemblybeing linearly movable relative to the chassis in a compacting strokefrom a withdrawn position above the trash container, the trash containerbeing disposable in aligned relation closely below the ram head,downwardly to a compacting position inside the container and then in awithdrawal stroke back to its withdrawn position, the improvementwherein the ram assembly includes an upper portion and a lower portionto which the ram head is attached, the lower ram portion being laterallymovable within the confines of the cabinet relative to the upper ramportion and the container into and out of said alignment with thecontainer when the ram head is above the container effective to exposethe mouth of the container for deposit of trash therein through anaccess opening in the cabinet; and wherein said lateral movement isachieved by transfer means which automatically moves the lower ramportion out of said alignment near the end of the ram assembly''swithdrawal stroke and moves the lower ram portion back into saidalignment at the beginning of the ram assembly''s compacting stroke whenthe ram head is above the container in each case, the transfer meansbeing activated by said linear movement of the ram assembly andcomprising driven means carried by the upper and lower ram portions anddrive means carried by the chassis and operative upon the driven meansonly during said linear movement of the ram assembly when the ram headis above the container.
 2. The compactor of claim 1 wherein the drivenmeans comprise first gear means carried by the lower ram portion andsecond gear means carried by the upper ram portion and operativelyengaging the first gear means, and wherein the drive means comprisesthird gear means carried by the chassis and operatively engaging thesecond gear means.
 3. The compactor of claim 2 wherein the upper andlower ram portions are joined by a pair of upper and lower plate membersrespectively secured to said ram portions, the plate members havinglaterally extending mating faces therebetween and interlocking guidemeans securing the lower to the upper ram portion, the guide meansextending parallel to the direction of said lateral movement of thelower ram portion, the lower plate member being laterally slidablerelative to the upper plate member over said faces and along the guidemeans to provide for said lateral movement of the lower ram portion. 4.The compactor of claim 3 wherein the guide means comprise a pair oflaterally spaced rectilinear ways secured to the lower plate member andextending upwardly through the top face of the upper plate member, andwherein the first gear means are carried by the guide means above theupper plate members.
 5. The compactor of claim 4 wherein the first gearmeans comprise a pair of rack gears secured to and parallel with saidways, wherein the second gear means comprise a pair of pinion gearsoperatively engaged with the rack gears, the pinion gears being fixed toa shaft journaled in the upper ram portion above and perpendicular tothe rack gears, and wherein the third gear means comprise a drive piniongear fixed to the shaft and a drive rack gear fixed to the chassis, thedrive rack gear being positioned to operatively engage the drive piniongear only when the ram head is above the container effective to causesaid lateral movement of the lower ram portion into and out of saidalignment near the beginning of the compacting stroke and the end of thewithdrawal stroke, respectively, of the ram assembly.